2021-07-26

"Deception Point" by Dan Brown


 

Publisher: Pocket Books
Copyright: 2001
ISBN: 9781416524809

I reviewed Mr. Brown’s book Digital Fortress a couple of weeks ago, and he is back with another great story that will keep you turning the pages. This time he takes on the entire political structure of the US Government, and it’s relationship with NASA and a number of other factors. It is an election year, and the president is  vying for a second term in office. His opponent is a ruthless senator who will stop at nothing to ensure he is elected instead, no matter what it costs.

The story revolves around the locating of a meteorite that was determined to have fell to the Earth in the early 1700s, and has been buried in the Arctic ice ever since. A team of civilian personnel are sent to investigate the meteorite, and discover some absolutely startling information. What this information is I’m not going to tell you, but if it is true then the whole world will be changed.

Once again the lead character in this novel (as in Digital Fortress) is female, which definitely adds (in my humble opinion) to the overall story as these types of novels have been dominated from the beginning by males. In many cases these males were also portrayed as essentially being super-humans, with a few minor flaws which makes them almost laughable in many cases.

Another great story, looking forward to the next book.

2021-07-19

"Relax, Dammit: A User's Guide to the Age of Anxiety" by Timothy Caulfield.


Publisher: Allen Lane
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9780735236325

This book takes the reader on an interesting journey though a single day, and highlights the myriad of different things that humans (yes, you!) typically worry about during that time, in the order you normally will encounter them. Most of these things were ones I'd personally never given any thought to, but upon reading about it realized that they are part of my life as well (except for the coffee part).

The book is split into three main sections Morning, Afternoon & Evening, and within each of these Dr. Caulfield examines the various things that are part of our lives. There are of course certain things that are present in all areas, such as our fascination and slavery to our cell phones, but like he says "Relax, Dammit!" Each of the topics he surveys are very informative, and for the most part addressed from a rather unique point of view, which is both enlightening, and at times quite humorous.

I don't want to spoil the read for you, but as a bit of a teaser he examines such things as waking up, weighing yourself, vitamins, parking, hand washing (something we are, or should be quite aware of in today's world), public toilet seats, coffee (yuck!), stand-up desks, soap, water drinking, the ubiquitous five-second rule, napping, hugging, television, and much more.

Dr. Timothy Caulfield is the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, as well as a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton. He has written a two other books "The Curefor Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness, and Happiness" and  "The Science of Celebrity ... or is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?"

An excellent read that will definitely open your eyes. Highly recommended. If you ever get a chance to hear Dr. Caulfield speak, take the time out of your busy schedule and do so. Also don't forget to Relax!


2021-07-12

"Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown

 


Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Copyright: 1998.
ISBN: 9780312263126

This is the second book of Dan Brown’s that I’ve read (I read The Da Vinci Code first, not realising that it was the second book in a series). This story however is a stand-alone novel that concerns the American National Security Agency (NSA), and its cryptographic division who have a sophisticated computer program that can decode anything in a matter of minutes, until it comes across a code written by a former employee.

A high level cryptographer in the NSA is called in to solve the riddle of this new code when the agency is essentially held hostage by a code system that threatens to put put them out of business, and ensure 100% privacy to everyone in the world - something no security agency would want.

Unlike numerous thriller novels there isnt tonnes of violence, with everybody armed to the teeth, etc. This novel is could easily be considered a classic as it requires the reader to think, and understand rather than just experience the visceral pleasure.

It is great to see the emergence of strong female characters in Brown's books, as the spy/thriller genre has been centred almost solely on males for decades. An excellent novel, looking forward to reading more of his work.

2021-07-05

"Hoax, A History of Deception: 5000 Years f Fakes, Forgeries and Fallacies" by Ian Tattersall & Peter Nevraumont


 

Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780316503723

Hoax takes the reader on a very interesting journey through the minds of perpetrators, as well as others who have had something to do with hoaxes, cons, etc. It is an extremely interesting read that will surprise you. In all the authors examine 50 hoaxes starting in 2800 BCE and going through to present day, dealing with such topics as The End of the Word, the myth of Noah's ark, Gladiators vs. Professional Wrestlers, various religious topics such as sacred relics, the Shroud of Turin, Priory of Sion, etc. They also cover the typical ones such as the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, and Piltdown Man. But in case you might think this is mainly about things that happened many years ago, they also looks at the vaccination debate, homeopathy, race, fake memoirs, fake bomb detectors, and much more..

I found this book to be quite informative, and even though I had heard of some of these topics before, others were brand new to me. The chapters are rather long, but do present the information in a well written and concise format. I can see this book being valuable to students in junior and senior high school especially considering the amount of misinformation that is present in the world today via the internet.

Well worth the read! I hope the authors consider doing a second volume as there has to be more hoaxes they didn't have a chance to cover.

Going on Hiatus

 Greetings, I have decided to put a hold on doing further book reviews for a while. In fact I'm not sure if I will resume doing reviews ...